By Blake Deshazo
The Selma Times-Journal

With the holidays coming up and recent violence in the community, the city has decided to host a community forum on public safety.

The forum will be held Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the George P. Evans Reception Hall at 6 p.m.

“Safety is paramount in the city of Selma,” said Selma City Council President Corey Bowie. “We want to try to inform the citizens of different ways they can help in preventing some of this crime and promoting the neighborhood watch programs.”

Michael Jackson, who is one of the speakers at the forum, will discuss the rise of gang activity in Selma.

“There’s a lot aware that a lot of these shootings the last couple of years are gang related, and there’s a lot of violence going on,” Jackson said.

“You’ve got the gang initiation going on right now, and so I want to make the public to be aware, be on the lookout, be careful and be safe.”

Jackson said the city’s gang problem has gotten even worse over the last few years.

“We had a young person missing and ended up dead. We had a young man walking home from school getting shot,” Jackson said. “We had the assault at the jail from gang violence. There have been a lot of incidents where violence and gangs are hand in hand.”

Jackson is trying to stop that violence and make people more aware of it.

“What we don’t want to happen is where it gets so out of hand that a lot of innocent victims get hurt,” Jackson said. “And I’m also going to talk about these gang sweeps we’re doing.”

Jackson said a task force comprised of the Fourth Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force and other agencies in and around Selma are planning sweeps to help cut down on gang problems.

“There is a lot of gang activity in the neighborhoods, and we’re trying to curtail it,” said Selma Police Chief John Brock, who is also scheduled to speak.

“Michael Jackson has got a task force, and we’re trying to work with him to just slow down the gang activity because every time you turn around something is always connected to a gang.”

Safety plans for businesses and churches are also on the agenda, as well as tips for citizens and neighborhood watch programs.

Dallas County Sheriff Harris Huffman will also speak.

Bowie said he hopes citizens show up because they can’t make Selma and Dallas County a safe place on their own.

“I just want to encourage the businesses and also the citizens to please come out,” Bowie said.

“Let’s work collectively together to fight this crime in this city.”